Health Beat: PBMC hosting epilepsy support group July 14

• Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead will host an epilepsy support group Monday, July 14, from 7 to 8 p.m. in conference room A on the second floor. The group provides encouragement, acceptance, comfort and empowerment. Patients, friends and family are all welcome. For information, or to recommend a speaker, contact Charlie Petersen at [email protected] or 728-2804.

• Jim Fogarty of resident services has been named July’s employee of the month at Peconic Landing in Greenport. In a release, director of resident services Diane Radigan cited Mr. Fogarty’s “skill and patience” and said he responds intuitively to residents’ needs, from helping to carry groceries to offering a welcoming smile.

“Jim deftly manages all issues related to transportation and hospitality and, when challenges arise, he steps up to be part of the solution,” she said.

• Cutchogue New Suffolk Library will host a free lecture, ‘Tick-Borne Disease: What You Need to Know,’ sponsored by Southampton Hospital, on Tuesday, July 15, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Dr. George Dempsey of the hospital’s Tick-Borne Disease Resource Center will review the variety of illnesses and ticks common on the East End and discuss symptoms, diagnostic tests and available treatment options. To register, call the library at 734-6360.

• Licensed practical nurse Patty Witzke has been named employee of the month for July at San Simeon by the Sound Center for Nursing, Rehabilitation and Adult Day Health Care, where she has worked for 37 years. In a release, assistant director of nursing Betsy Dzenkowski described her as “reliable and dedicated.”

Added a co-worker, “Patty is someone you can always count on. She is a professional who loves her job.”

“Patience, caring and compassion,” Ms. Witzke said, are the key to life and “help you appreciate people even more.”

• Radiation oncologist Isamettin Aral, M.D., will present a free lecture about ‘The Importance of Radiation Oncology for Breast Cancer Survivors’ on Saturday, July 19, from 10 a.m. to noon at Riverhead Free Library. A light breakfast will be served.

• Weekly Al-Anon meetings take place on the North Fork on the following schedule: Monday at 7 p.m. and Tuesday at noon at Cutchogue Presbyterian Church; Wednesday at 7 p.m. at First Universalist Church, Southold; and Thursday at 7 p.m. (open adult child meeting) At Church of the Redeemer, Mattituck.